Greeenburgh Insider: NYS law needs to be changed - to encourage citizen board members to participate by zoom.

 

Current law requires in person meetings. However, citizen board members can participate by zoom if they open up their homes to the public while participating. This is ridiculous.

In recent months (since the pandemic) members of Town Boards, City Councils, School Boards and citizen advisory boards have gotten used to meeting by zoom - from the comforts of their home.  The Governor recently issued a directive requiring Boards (including all volunteer boards) to meet in person.  There is a ridiculous requirement in the state law enabling board members who can't participate in person to continue to participate via zoom ONLY IF THEY OPEN UP THEIR HOME TO THE PUBLIC WHILE THEY ARE PARTICIPATING IN THE ZOOM CALL.  The current law discourages participation. It's a step backwards. 

The NYS law should be amended to allow Board members to continue to participate in meetings via zoom without opening up their homes to the public to observe their vote.  I am reaching out to the Governor and State Legislators asking that the law be changed.

For unpaid volunteers of a public body who are not personally comfortable in meeting in a small Town Hall conference room at this point in time with the emergence of a new highly contagious variant of the Covid virus,

- If there is a member who has just had surgery and, though with discomfort is heroically participating in Zoom meetings, he/ she now has to further disrupt her recovery and open up his/her house to the public in order to continue participating in Zoom meetings.

- If there is a member who has lost a family member to Covid and out of a sense of duty is participating in Zoom meetings notwithstanding the family and personal stresses, he/she she has to open her house to the public in order to continue participating in Zooms.

- If there are members who have opened their house only to close family members due to the risk of Covid virus contagiousness, they now have to open their houses to unknown strangers in order to continue participating in Zooms. In these times, even without Covid, normal people don’t open their houses to strangers.         

Who knows what is going to be the Covid situation in the fall when millions of Americans return from vacations in far-away lands.

The State Legislature and Governor should recognize the advantages of technology. Zoom meetings have increased citizen involvement and participation. Dedicated volunteers and Board members who can't make meetings due to illnesses, business or personal issues should be encouraged to continue to participate.

PAUL FEINER
Greenburgh Town Supervisor

 
The Committee on Open Government has revised its view and now believes that videoconferencing of Town meetings is permissible. However, if videoconferencing is used, the public notice for the meeting is required to inform the public that videoconferencing will be used, identify the locations for the meeting, and state that the public has the right to attend the meeting at any of the locations at which a member of the public body participates.